UK Smoking Statistics Overview

Source from:  www.ash.org.uk 12/27/2013

Smoking trends in Great Britain

The highest recorded level of smoking among men in Great Britain was 82% in 1948, of which 65% smoked manufactured cigarettes.  At that time, significant  numbers of men smoked pipes or cigars as well as, or instead of, manufactured cigarettes.  By contrast, women have tended to smoke only cigarettes.  Smoking prevalence among women in 1948 was 41% and remained fairly constant until the early 1970's, peaking at 45% in the mid 1960's.

Overall prevalence among adults (aged 16 and over) has been declining since questions about smoking were first included in the annual lifestyle survey.  The biggest fall was between 1974 and 1994.  Since then the proportion of adults smoking continued to decline but at a slower rate.  However, since 2007 the rate of smoking has remained largely unchanged.

There are about 10 million adult cigarette smokers in Great Britain and about 15 million ex-smokers. Since 1990 there has been a steady increase in the number of smokers using mainly hand-rolled tobacco. In 1990, 18% of male smokers and 2% of female smokers said they smoked mainly hand-rolled cigarettes but by 2011 this had risen to 40% and 26% respectively.

In 2012, the OPN survey found that 38% of men and 24% of women smoked hand-rolled cigarettes.

Measuring smoking rates

Periodically the Government sets targets to reduce smoking prevalence in the population. In the 1998 White Paper 'Smoking kills' the Government set a target to reduce adult smoking rates to 21% or less by 2010, with a reduction in prevalence among routine and manual groups to 26% or less.

The latest national survey shows that the target for the general population has been achieved but not that for lower socio economic groups (33% in 2012).  In its strategy paper launched on 1 February 2010 the Labour Government set new targets to reduce smoking among the general population to 10% of adults and to 1% or less among children by 2020.  In March 2011 the Coalition Government launched its Tobacco Control Plan for England in which it set out ambitions to reduce adult smoking prevalence to 18.5% or less by 2015 and to reduce smoking among 15 year-olds to 12% or less by 2015.

Cigarette smoking and age

Smoking continues to be lowest among people aged 60 and over. Although they are more likely than younger people to have ever been smokers, they are more likely to have stopped smoking. While smoking prevalence among young adults aged 16-19 appears to be declining more rapidly than in other age groups it is possible that this may be due to a degree of under-reporting by young people.

Number of secondary school children in England who smoke

Very few children are smokers when they start secondary school: among 11 year olds fewer than 0.5% are regular smokers. The likelihood of smoking increases with age so that by 15 years of age 10% of pupils are regular smokers.
 
Overall, the prevalence of regular smoking among children aged 11-15  remained stable at between 9 and 11 per cent from 1998 until 2006. However, in 2007 there was a fall in overall prevalence from 9% to 6%, the lowest rate recorded since surveys of pupils' smoking began in 1982.  The downward trend has continued: in 2012 overall prevalence was 4% and among 15 year olds it fell to 10%.

Cigarette smoking and socio-economic group

There is a strong link between cigarette smoking and socio-economic group. In 2012, 33% of men and 32% of women in routine and manual occupations smoked compared to 16% of men and 12% of women in managerial and professional occupations.

Historically there has been a slower decline in smoking among manual groups, resulting in smoking becoming increasingly concentrated in this population. In recent years, smoking rates have fallen by a similar amount across all social groups, so that the differential between non-manual and manual has not changed significantly.

Previous ONS surveys have revealed an association between socio-economic group and the age at which people started to smoke. The 2011 GLF survey revealed that in managerial and professional households, 31% had started smoking before they were 16, compared with 45% of those in routine and manual households.

Trends in cigarette consumption

Consumption of manufactured cigarettes among adult male smokers rose from 14 per day in 1948 to 19 per day in 1955, and remained at about this level until 1970 when there was an increase to 22 per day by 1973.  Among female smokers, consumption rose steadily from 7 cigarettes per day in 1949 to a maximum of 17 per day in 1976.
 
Since the mid 1970s cigarette consumption has fallen among both men and women with  average reported consumption now at 12 cigarettes per smoker per day .

As in previous years, men smoked slightly more per day on average than women and there was an association between consumption and socio-economic group, although the difference between groups is now small. In 2012, smokers in manual occupations smoked an average of 12 cigarettes a day compared with 10 a day for those in managerial or professional groups.

Dependence on cigarette smoking

In 2011, 63% of smokers said they would like to stop smoking altogether.  Other ways of measuring dependence include how difficult people would find it to go for a whole day without smoking and how soon they smoke after waking.
 
First cigarette of the day

In 2011, 16% of all smokers had their first cigarette within 5 minutes of waking.  Among smokers of 20 or more cigarettes a day, 35% smoked their first cigarette of the day within 5 minutes of waking, compared to just 3% of those smoking fewer than 10 a day.

Managing without a cigarette for the whole day

In 2011, 60% of smokers said they would find it hard to go for a whole day without smoking. Eighty-one per cent of heavier smokers (20 or more a day) said they would find it difficult, compared to 32% of those smoking fewer than 10 cigarettes per day.　Enditem